


How They Arrived

by BunnyMask



Series: Mystic Haven: The Magic Tower [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Aqua is a witch, Aqua tells the story of her life, F/M, Gen, It's Eraqus, Mentioned Eraqus (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Maleficent, Mentioned Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts), Minor Character Death, Terra is a Golem, Vanitas is a batfolk, Vanitas is twelve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21561688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyMask/pseuds/BunnyMask
Summary: Aqua and Vanitas bond over chores and a love story.
Relationships: Aqua & Vanitas (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua/Terra (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Mystic Haven: The Magic Tower [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1522583
Comments: 14
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

It was that time of the month. 

Aqua looked up at the tower and sighed. The windows needed to be cleaned. 

Aqua summoned a bubble. She sat on it and began floating up and around the tower. She had to scrub each window. Removing the dirt with water magic and soap was not efficient. She could never get off all the dirt that way. At least she could still use her magic to rinse.

"Sup."

Vanitas was sitting in his tree, watching her. At least he wasn't living in it anymore. Actually, despite his standoffish behavior, he was adjusting to life at the tower quite well. Soon, he might even start interacting with people who weren’t her or Ven.

"Hi, Vanitas," Aqua smiled. "Want to help with these windows?"

"No."

Aqua shook her head. Terra had Ventus following him around and practically begging to help him with everything. Meanwhile, Vanitas usually just appeared out of nowhere and watched Aqua do chores. She smiled. Maybe it meant she’d earned his trust...

"Alright then," Aqua continued on her way.

Vanitas sprouted his wings and followed her. He landed on window seals as she made her way around. She cleaned a bunch of windows, though not nearly enough to be done before either of them spoke again.

"You're married to the golem, right?"

"Yes, I am married to _Terra_."

"Why?"

"Because we love each other."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you love each other?"

Aqua looked at him. He was looking back at her expectantly.

"Well…" Aqua scrubbed at a spot on the window , "I love that he always tries to protect everyone, he has a good heart, and he's a bit gullible. And I guess he's always been there for me when I needed him."

Vanitas tilted his head, eyes full of anticipation.

"Like when we were kids, after my mom… passed away. He was the first person I was ever able to depend on." His eyes were still on her. 

“But how does it work?”

“Love?”

“Yea.” He frowned, “I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

“Oh? Really?”

"The King and Queen hated each other and I don’t think they loved the prince either. And our Master…”

“What about you and Ven?”

Vanitas shrugged. “I don’t think we’re like you two.”

“Well, I don’t think there’s any one-way love works, but I can tell you about Terra and I.” She sighed, "As soon as I finish these windows."

He frowned. "How long is that going to take?"

“Until dinner probably.”

Vanitas groaned.

"Well, maybe if I had a little help…"

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll scrub. You rinse and talk."

"Deal." She made a bubble for him to ride and handed him the rag and soap. "Where to start… I guess I'll start from the beginning."

Aqua hadn't always been alone, but she was now. Her mother had never recovered from the flu she'd caught and Aqua had watched her wither away. Now, at the age of eleven, she was alone. It was just her, a small cottage, and a garden. Her mother's grave was behind the cottage.

Aqua was sweeping the walkway the first time she saw him. He was by the river. He had a makeshift fishing pole and a backpack. There was shrubbery and trees between them, perhaps that's why he didn't notice her as she moved closer.

She'd thought it was a fluke that she hadn't sensed magic. It wasn't, he was human---

_"Human?"_ Vanitas turned to look at her. "I thought this was about you and Terra."

"It is."

"He was human?"

Aqua nodded.

"Why isn't he now?"

Aqua frowned, but recovered quickly. "I'll get to that. Now, where was I? Right…"

_He was human._ Aqua had never met a human before. Her mother had told her they were dangerous. Not because of any powers they had, but because of how violently they rejected the 'other'. Aqua prepared herself.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in my forest?"

He turned to look at her. He had the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen.

_"Yuck!"_

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"... Continue."

_His eyes were beautiful._ They were like the amber stones in her rock collection.

_"Pfft._ Rock collection?"

Aqua shot him a look. He did not stop snickering. She continued.

_He got up and turned to her._ Aqua readied herself. He bowed.

"I'm Terra, ma'am." No one had ever called her ma'am. "I'm a little lost, so I'm sorry if I'm on your property."

Aqua really wasn't sure how to respond to that. He seemed honest enough.

"Stand up, you don't have to bow."

He stood up. He seemed to be around her age, maybe a little older. He stared at her for so long that she felt he could see her soul. Were all humans this intense?

"Whoa! You own this whole forest? You're so young!"

She could tell he'd believe anything she said to him, but she opted for the truth. "I don't own the forest. I just protect it."

"Really? The whole forest?" His eyes were wide with excitement. "You're amazing!"

"No," Aqua pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "anyone could do it."

She was just keeping up a simple barrier. And not a very good one if a human had managed to get this deep into the forest unharmed.

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I ran away from home."

"You ran away?" Aqua frowned. "Why would you do that?"

"My father's a jerk." There was much more to it than he was saying.

"So you don't have a home?"

"I don't think I ever did."

And that struck Aqua right in the heart. She fidgeted with her hands.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?"

He accepted her invitation and stayed for longer than dinner. She hadn't meant for it to happen. He was just a big help. And he didn't seem dangerous. Well, maybe that was because he didn't know she was a witch. 

_"He didn't know?"_ Vanitas rolled his eyes. "You have blue hair."

"Yea, well… I was confused by that too." Aqua rinsed a window. "From what I could gather, he just thought I was a child living alone in the forest. I meant to tell him, but his company meant so much to me."

"You wanted to stay together…"

Aqua nodded. "And if I told him I was a witch, I was afraid he wouldn't like me anymore. So, I decided to never tell him and everything would be perfect… Of course, that didn't work out…"

"Why?" Vanitas turned to look at her, glaring. "Did he say something? Did he _do_ something?"

Aqua laughed. It was cute that he was defensive on her behalf. "Patience, Vanitas."

_One morning, about a week or two after Terra had arrived, a bird flew into Aqua's bedroom window._ The bird didn't talk to her, not exactly, but it alerted to an emergency by the river. Aqua jumped out of bed and ran out of the cottage. She was only vaguely aware that she'd passed Terra in the kitchen.

When Aqua arrived at the river, she saw a baby deer had fallen in. It was doing it's best to cling to a rock jutting out of the river. Aqua focused on using the water to lift the deer up. She set it on the other side of the river. It ran off into the woods.

That was a close one. Aqua smiled. She turned to head home. Terra was standing there wide-eyed.

"Aqua, you're a witch?"

"Yes," Aqua looked down. "Now you know."

"That's amazing!" Terra walked up to her.

Amazing? "Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Should I be?"

"I'm a witch."

"I know, you just told me." Aqua just stared at him. Terra scratched his cheek. "Breakfast is ready if you're hungry."

Aqua followed him back.

So he wasn't afraid. That was… Aqua smiled. She had never felt so light on her feet before. Looking back, that was probably the moment her love sprouted.

_"So you love him because he didn't hate you for being a witch?"_ Vanitas scrubbed at a particularly dirty window. "That's a pretty low bar isn't it?"

"It's not that I loved him at that point, I just think at that point I was on the path."

"On the path…"

"Mhmm, like it was only a matter of time at that point. Admittedly I probably had a crush on him before that, but that was the moment I knew he accepted me."

"What's a crush?"

"It's like when you're really curious about someone and you want to be closer to them and learn about them." Aqua thought for a moment. "You might want to be around them all the time or for them to like you."

"Oh, like how Ventus is always following your husband around."

"Maybe."

"Is Ventus going to fall in love with him too?"

"Probably not."

"Would you be mad if he did?"

"How could I get mad at him for doing the same thing I did?"

"Because isn't Terra yours?"

"He is my husband, but he doesn't belong to me. I can't control how other people feel about him."

"Oh." Vanitas tapped the window. "What if he loved someone else and not you?"

"I'd be very sad… but I can't stop him from doing that…"

It was quiet for a long time.

Vanitas spoke first. "So what happened after he found out that you were a witch?"

"Well..."

_She and Terra lived together for a while after that._ The season changed from spring to summer. They'd fallen into a routine. Terra made the food, usually straight from his mother's cookbook. He spent the morning gathering ingredients and his afternoons exploring. Aqua woke up and cleaned while he cooked. Then she practiced magic. Her barrier needed to be stronger, so every day she tried to reinforce it a little more.

"Is magic hard?" Terra sat down next to Aqua while she was meditating.

Aqua shook her head. "It's not hard, really. It just has levels of difficulty, but it feels natural." She hummed. "It's like learning to walk."

"Because you were born with magic, right?"

Aqua nodded.

Terra was quiet. He seemed like he wanted to ask something. Aqua nudged him with her shoulder.

"Penny for your thoughts."

He hesitated and when he spoke his voice was low. "Could I learn magic?"

Aqua turned to him. "You want to learn magic?"

He looked away from her. "It's dumb, right?"

"No, it's not! You can learn magic."

"I can?"

"Yea! You could be a wizard or a mage."

"I could? How?"

"Well, to be a wizard you need to study magic intensely and in solitude. When you've done that enough the magic will open up to you."

Terra bit his lip. He seemed nervous about that. "And," he cleared his throat, "what about a mage?"

"You need to make a contract with a magical creature, like a Manticore or a Dragon or really anything that has excess magic to give."

"I'll do that then," Terra grinned, "with a dragon!"

"A dragon?" They were really rare after the Great Dragon War.

"Yea! I read about them in a book once! They were so cool!"

Aqua smiled, caught up in his enthusiasm. "If you make a contract with a dragon then you'll be a Dragon Mage!"

"A Dragon Mage?" His face lit up.

"Yea! They're super strong!" Aqua made an arch with her hands, "People say they're as resilient as baby dragons and they can get stronger. Plus, they have loads of magic! They're even more rare than dragons these days, though."

"Whoa!" His eyes lit up. "Then I'll definitely become one and I'll help you protect the forest."

"That'd be nice." Aqua smiled.

One morning Aqua didn't get up when Terra did. She just felt so hot and groggy. Terra came to get her for breakfast. His eyes went wide.

"Aqua, are you okay?" He ran up to her and put his hand on her forehead. "You're burning up!"

Aqua was slow to react. "I'm fine."

"You are not!" He made her lay down. "You're sick."

Aqua coughed. "I don't get sick." She sat up, but Terra laid her back down.

"You look blue," Terra frowned. "Is that a witch thing?"

Aqua coughed. She rose her arm above her head. Her skin did have a blue tint. "Terra, open the window, please."

He did. There were several fairies flying by.

"It's the Fae Flu," she coughed. "There's too much magic residue."

"Is there a cure? Are you going to die?"

"We don't have the ingredients. I probably won't die."

"Probably?"

"I just need some sleep. It'll probably be gone by tomorrow."

Terra frowned. "Okay…"

Aqua was not better the next day. She was barely coherent. She remembered Terra asking where he could get ingredients. 

"That's too far away," she remembered him saying, "I can't leave you like this."

The next thing she remembered, she was strapped to Terra's back. They were exiting the forest. She could see a human settlement in the distance. She tried to speak, but couldn't through her coughs.

Terra went to the market for ingredients, but they refused to sell to him since he was carting around a witch. He went door to door, but the results were the same. Aqua couldn't feel her body anymore. All she felt were her limbs burning. She was in unbearable pain. Coughing felt like a fire had settled in her throat. She could hear Terra's voice, but couldn't make out any words. There was someone else talking to him. She couldn't make them out either.

She woke up in her bed. She could breathe. She could feel! She got up and immediately fell over. The door swung open.

"Aqua!" Terra ran to her side. "Are you okay?"

"She's fine." She knew that voice. "The fairy migration is hard for magic beings her age. It took a lot out of her."

"Maleficent!" Her voice was rough as she looked up to confirm her suspicion. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your life, child."

Maleficent had sat on her throne with the coldest expression when Aqua had begged for her to help her mother. Aqua felt rage rising in her chest.

She stood up. "You---" She fell over. "Leave." Her voice was as weak as she felt.

"I don't think I will." Maleficent clicked her staff on the ground. "I always liked this forest. I think I'll take it."

"You can't!" Aqua couldn't get up.

"I can. I claim this forest."

The energy of the forest shifted. It was no longer hers. The rest of the strength drained from her body. She could hear Terra's calling for her and asking what was going on.

_"What was going on?"_ Vanitas furrowed his eyebrows. "How could she just kick you out?"

"She was stronger than me. She wiped out my barrier like it was nothing."

"But that was your home!"

Aqua nodded. "It was."

"That's not fair!"

"It wasn't…"

_When Aqua woke up, she was on Terra's back again._ They were on a dirt road. Terra was holding a couple of bags. He was crying.

"Terra…"

"I'm sorry, Aqua. You lost everything because of me!"

"It wasn't your fault," the tears built up in Aqua's eyes. "I wasn't strong enough to protect anything."

"You will be." She could hear the smile in Terra's voice. "You'll be so strong no one can take anything from you."

Aqua laughed. "Yea, one day I'll take it all back."

"And I'll help you as a Dragon Mage!"

Aqua smiled, "Yea."

Even though she'd lost her forest, she was filled with hope. Maybe that's just how knowing Terra was.

_"And after that, we found a new home together."_

"Here?" Vanitas finished up the last window.

"No, that wasn't for a long time." She rinsed it.

"Then were you two in love when you left the forest?"

"No, we were much too young for that."

"Aqua!"

"Yes?"

"You were supposed to tell me why you love each other!"

"Oh, well… I'll tell you the rest later. Look, we finished in time for lunch." She started downward.

Vanitas sighed and followed her. "You better! I didn't clean all those windows for fun!"

Aqua laughed.


	2. Chapter 2

It was bathroom cleaning day. 

The tower had so many bathrooms. Many of them weren't in use but collected dust at an alarming rate. Aqua started at the top floor and made her way down the tower. She was scrubbing the floor in the kids' bathrooms when Vanitas walked in trailing dirt.

"Vanitas!" She gestured to the new tracks. "You can't just---"

"Here!" Vanitas shoved a small blue stone in her face. It had speckles of gold.

"What's this?"

"It's for your rock collection."

Aqua smiled and took it. "How sweet!"

"Shut up!" Vanitas sat on the sink. He swung his feet. "Um…"

"Yes?"

"Last time, you said Ventus and I love each other."

Aqua sat on her legs and looked up at him. "I did."

"What makes you think that?"

"It just seems like you two care about each other a lot. Ven wouldn't have ever left the castle without you and you wouldn't have left without him."

"And that's love?"

"I believe it is," Aqua rolled the rock in her palm. "Love comes in all forms."

"But I hurt him," Vanitas looked down at his hands, "and I'm mean to him."

"And you feel bad about it?"

Vanitas nodded.

"Then apologize and try to be nicer to him."

"Nicer? How?"

"Well, is there anything or anyone you think is nice?"

Vanitas looked at her then away then back at her. He shrugged.

"Well, if you think of anything, try it with Ven."

"Okay…" Vanitas leaned his head back on the mirror. "So what happened after you and Terra left the forest?"

"We traveled around for a while, almost two years…"

From Aqua's forest, they took the first road they found. It led them out to the countryside. They found an abandoned barn to camp out in. For a couple of weeks, Terra was able to work odd jobs for food and money while Aqua hid out in the barn. When they'd gathered a decent amount of money and supplies they continued down the road.

Every town they visited, Terra did his best to get supplies and money. Aqua tended to stay on the outskirts of town. They'd learned pretty quickly that no one would work with Terra if Aqua was around; Her long blue hair was a dead give away to her magic origin. They camped every night too. No one would let a witch stay in town.

_ "No one let you two stay in town?" _

"Nope."

"Humans are the worst," Vanitas jumped off the sink. He picked up a sponge and started wiping up his tracks.

"Well, if we hadn't been camping out, we might have never met our master."

"Your master?" Vanitas's ears perked up.

Aqua nodded, "Eraqus."

_ It was early. _

Aqua woke up to the sound of rustling around their tent and the feeling of strong magic. To avoid having to carry around too much, Aqua made them a tent every night out of water. It was that water that kept Aqua from making out the figure in front of her. She sat up.

"Did I wake you, little witch?"

Terra sat up. "Whose that?"

"I am the guardian of this domain, small human."

Aqua dropped the tent. She stood. "I'm very sorry. I didn't realize we were intruding in your domain."

Terra stood and bowed. "We're very sorry, sir."

"How old are the two of you?"

Terra stood up straight. "Fifteen and thirteen, sir."

"And where are your parents?"

Aqua frowned. "Dead, sir."

"My mom's dead," Terra looked away, "and my father might as well be."

The man was quiet for a long time. He nodded. "Would you two like a home?"

"Home" was beginning to feel like a foreign concept.

Aqua and Terra exchanged glances.

"You don't have to answer right away. Would you like to join us for breakfast?"

They agreed to that. As they walked with the man, he introduced himself as Eraqus. He was a dragon. Terra told him about his goal to become a dragon mage. Eraqus listened and nodded.

_ "Your master was a dragon?" _

Aqua nodded. "The last known dragon."

"Really?"

"All the other dragons went into hiding after the war, Master Eraqus took his responsibility as a Magic Master very seriously. He wanted to protect as many magical beings as he could."

"That's what Magic Masters are supposed to do?"

"Yea," she took a breath, "they are." 

_ After a long walk, they arrived at Eraqus's home. _ It was a castle. There were magical creatures everywhere. Aqua and Terra stared, both frozen in their tracks.

"Welcome to Mystic Haven," Eraqus continued forward.

Mystic Haven was a magic sanctuary. Aqua had never been to one before, she'd only heard about them from her mom.

Breakfast was delicious. It was also weird. A lot of the younger residents of Mystic Haven had never seen a human before so they swarmed Terra. They didn't leave him alone even when Eraqus gave Aqua and Terra the tour. He introduced Aqua to many of the witches residing there. 

After the tour, he gave them both an offer. He offered Aqua a magic education and Terra the chance to become a dragon mage if he proved himself. In the meantime, all the magic in Mystic Haven would not waver because of one human. They didn't have to discuss it very long. They both wanted to stay.

That's when things started to change though.

_ "Two years is such a short amount of time,"  _ Aqua headed to the next bathroom, Vanitas trailing behind her. "But at that age, two years makes a millennium of difference. I was just beginning to understand why I wanted to hold his hand so much while he was experiencing things I couldn't possibly have understood. He was at an age where holding hands with a thirteen year didn't mean very much."

"What are you talking about?" Vanitas flew up to her so they were side by side.

"Puberty and sexual attraction."

"What?"

"You're still a couple of years away from that, but there will be a time when your body starts going through changes and you might want to experience a different type of intimacy, it's a perfectly normal change."

"I'm going to want…?"

"Or you won't, that's perfectly normal too."

"I don't get it." Vanitas frowned. "Can you just get back to the story?"

"Right, so things started to change and I hadn't realized just how much until one day…"

_ During her studies in the library, Aqua found a book with information on Dragon Mages. _ She rushed down to Terra's room to show him. The door was already open wide enough for her to see inside when she arrived.

A bunch of teenagers were sitting in a circle, giggling and 'oohing' as they watched something in the center of them. Then one of the girls, a mermaid if Aqua remembered correctly, leaned across the circle and kissed Terra.

_ "What?"  _ Vanitas threw a sponge up and it landed on his head, "she can't do that! You two are married!"

Aqua laughed. "We weren't at the time."

"You kind of were."

"I guess we didn't act much differently than we do now. Anyway, the whole situation was a shock to me."

_ Aqua's breath caught in her throat. _ Should she just leave? He seemed busy.

Before she could make a decision, the door swung open. One of the older teens appeared in the doorway. He leaned on the frame.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Aqua held the book close to her chest, "I was just passing by."

"Aw, leaving so soon?" He leaned down so they were eye level. "Don't you want to join us?"

Bang! 

They both jumped. Terra had slammed his hand against the door frame. "No, she doesn't."

The other teen laughed. "Relax, Terra, it was a joke."

"It wasn't funny! She's just a kid."

Just a kid. Wow. It was like a slap in the face. They were best friends. They'd traveled together for years and suddenly she was just a kid.

She didn't know what to say or what to do, so she ran back to the library. She sat in the library with her head in her arms. She started crying. She felt pathetic and so alone.

"Aqua?" Terra sat next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Are you sure you want to be seen with some kid?"

"I didn't mean---"

"I know." She did. It still hurt though.

After that Aqua buried herself in her studies. There were feelings, ugly feelings, in her chest whenever she saw Terra with the other teens. They were taking all of Terra's attention. And all the girls were tall and pretty and had… assets she didn't. She hated feeling so bad and angry. She wanted nothing more than to put a bubble around herself and keep everything out. Terra didn't let her though. While she wasn't studying magic, he took her to train with him. Master Eraqus told him he needed to train his body to prepare to be a dragon mage. He grew stronger every day.

By the time Aqua was fifteen, she understood her feelings for Terra, but he seemed even further away. It was like she couldn't catch up. She eventually accepted that he'd never feel the same way. At the time he was dating the mermaid who he'd kissed. Aqua tried dating too, but she was generally too busy for it.

Aqua was seventeen the first time she noticed Terra staring at her. They were in the library.

"Does it look bad?" Aqua brushed her fingers against her new haircut.

Terra sat up straight. "No! It suits you…"

"Thanks," she smiled.

"So are you coming to the ceremony tomorrow?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Terra smiled. "Thanks."

The next day, Terra became a Dragon Mage.

The ceremony was a small one at the garden gazebo. There were only a handful of people there: Eraqus, Terra, Aqua, and a couple of older witches. The process of making a magic contract varies from creature to creature. For a Dragon, the contract requires three steps.

Step 1: The contractee must call upon the dragon with it's full name, it's color, and it's most valuable possession.

Terra stood in front of the gazebo. Eraqus stood under the gazebo.

"I call upon Master Eraqus of Scala, the White dragon whose most valued possession is Mystic Haven."

Step 2: The contractee must offer up something valuable, a piece of themselves. The more important the valuable is the stronger their magic will be.

"In exchange for a piece of your power I offer you the memory of the names of my parents and hometown."

Step 3: The contractee must seal the contract. There are a variety of valid ways to do this, but most often it's sealed with blood.

"I seal our contract with my blood." Terra cut his palm open. His blood dripped on the path to the gazebo.

There was a flash and a swirling wind. A light from Eraqus entered Terra. He lit up. Aqua couldn't see him anymore. Then the light died down. Terra was standing tall. Aqua could sense the magic coming from him.

The ceremony wrapped up after that, but not before Eraqus put Aqua in charge of Terra's magic training. He told her he would take care of all of the dragon traits Terra might gain, but teaching him magic was her final test to see if she was a master.

Terra's new magic was volatile at best. He had no idea how to control it and it didn't seem to want to be controlled. It meant that Aqua was with Terra often. If she wasn't teaching him how to use his magic she was teaching him how to regulate it. When they weren't doing either of those things they were just hanging out.

"So what are you going to do when you're a magic master?" Terra was laying beside her in the grass.

"I was thinking about going back to the forest." Aqua watched clouds pass by. "I think I can take it back."

"You definitely can," he sat up, "and you won't have to do it alone."

"You'll come with me?" Aqua rose to meet him, "Still?"

"Of course," he smiled. "I kind of miss it, the way we were back then. I really liked cooking for you."

"I really liked that too."

"Then when we go back, I'll cook for you every day."

_ Aqua sat on the edge of the tub. _ They were finally done. "And a few years after that we got married. The end."

"Aqua," Vanitas narrowed his eyes at her, "you just spent three hours telling me about how Terra didn't like you when you were teenagers and a bunch of other junk I didn't ask. And what's with all the loose ends?"

"Loose ends?"

"Terra's a golem! And what about your forest? You're here! Plus, you can't just jump from not being together to being married!"

"You're really invested aren't you?"

"No! You just suck at telling stories!"

Aqua stood and stretched. "I'll tell you the rest later. I'm hungry."

Vanitas groaned but followed her to the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

"Get up.”

Aqua woke up to Vanitas standing above her bed. He glared down at her, arms crossed over his chest.

”What time is it?" Terra was already gone, so not too early.

"We have to clean the brat's room, remember?"

"Who?" She yawned, knowing very well who he was referring to. But she would get Vanitas to use people's names and if she had to act oblivious to do it she would.

"The manticore!"

Aqua stared at him.

"Roxas."

"Mmm," she nodded, "Roxas brought home a goop frog from the playroom."

"And his room is slime central."

"Right," she yawned.

Aqua had been up late, returning the goop frog home. Roxas was going to hate her for the next week, but there was no way they could keep it. Goop frogs needed a lot of upkeep and made a lot of messes. Maybe she could find him a more reasonable pet.

Aqua climbed out of bed. "Let's get to it then."

Roxas's room _was_ slime central. She'd been so busy chasing down the frog that she hadn't even seen it. The entire room was covered in clear, thick slim. It sloshed and squished under her boots as she walked in. It was sticky too.

"I wonder if there are any spells that need this."

Vanitas snorted. "You're so weird."

"Well, let's get started." She summoned a bubble to fill with slime.

"So how'd you end up here cleaning up some brat's mess?"

"Well," Aqua took a breath. It was only a matter of time before he asked for the rest of the story. She hadn't really talked about it before, except a short debriefing to Yen Sid upon arrival. "We didn't have much of a choice."

Aqua became a Magic Master at the age of eighteen. Being a Magic Master came with the responsibility of aiding and protecting magical creatures. Master Eraqus often sent Aqua on quests to help beings in need and Terra always went with her. It was over those journeys that their relationship changed.

It started with longing glances and gentle brushes against each other. There were conversations under the stars where they looked each other in the eyes, neither drawing attention to obvious changes happening. There was the hand holding and the gentle caresses. And soon they were together.

 _"About time,"_ Vanitas rolled his eyes.

Aqua shook her head before continuing. "We got married when I turned twenty-one. It was a private ceremony under the gazebo."

"The blood gazebo?"

"Yes."

"Gross."

 _It was only a couple of weeks after their wedding that they decided to go back to the forest._ They went to tell Master Eraqus about the decision, but they found him in a conversation with someone they'd never met before.

"Aqua. Terra."

"Good morning, master," Terra bowed.

"I hope we aren't interrupting," Aqua looked at the unfamiliar man.

"No, I was just about to call you two," he looked at the man, "I'd like you to meet Master Xehanort."

 _Aqua saw Vanitas tense up._

"Would you like me to stop?" Aqua kept her voice soft.

He shook his head and didn't say anything else, so she continued.

_"He's a friend of mine and, like Terra, he's a dragon mage."_

"Pleased to meet you," Terra bowed. Aqua followed suit.

She rose and looked at Eraqus, "Master, we---"

"While Master Xehanort is here, he'd like to mentor Terra and he's requested your assistance with some tasks, Aqua. I hope you two will fulfill his request."

"We'd be honored, Master Eraqus."

Aqua shot Terra a look but didn't argue with him... until they got back to his room.

"Terra, 'we'd be honored'?" She closed the door behind her, "We're supposed to be leaving. "

"I know, but I don't want to let Master Eraqus down," Terra sat on the bed.

"That doesn't mean you can just agree without consulting me."

"I didn't think it would bother you to stay a little longer."

"It doesn't," Aqua leaned against the door, "it bothers me that you don't trust me enough to ask first."

Terra looked back at her. He stood up and crossed the room. "Of course I trust you, with my life, I just didn't think first."

Aqua frowned. "Okay, just ask me next time. I would've said 'yes'."

Terra nodded then kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Aqua smiled.

The next day, Xehanort gave Aqua a list of things to gather. Most of the things were just magic ingredients that were rare and distant. One thing caught her attention though. In the Library of Spells, there was a scroll he wanted. It was sealed with a spell and unlabeled. Before Aqua handed it over to Xehanort she took it to her room. She unsealed it and unrolled it.

It was a dark spell, she could tell by the energy radiated off it. She could read the spell, but there was no label.

"Master Aqua," Xehanort seemed to just appear.

Aqua turned to him. He was in the doorway. Had her door been open? She could have sworn she'd closed it, locked it even.

"Master Xehanort."

"I see you brought my scroll," he looked at the table.

"What spell is this?" Aqua put her hand over the scroll.

"That is what I am trying to find out. It's part of my research."

"I see." Aqua removed her hand.

Xehanort collected the scroll.

Aqua looked at her palm. She'd successfully copied the scroll on a small sheet of ice. She copied it down on a piece of paper and hid it in her drawer.

"What do you think of Master Xehanort?" Aqua was in Terra's room, leaning on him as he massaged his hands.

"I'm learning a lot from him."

"Do you… trust him?"

"Master Eraqus trusts him. That's all I need."

"Okay…"

Aqua couldn't sleep as she lay in bed that night. Her mind kept drifting to that scroll. She needed to know what that spell was. She considered asking the older magic users, but that might get back to Xehanort. She needed to ask someone else, someone who knew dark magic and didn't have a connection to Mystic Haven.

That night Aqua packed her bag. She stopped by Terra's room and left a note saying she'd be back soon and not to worry. She went out to the cliff behind Mystic Haven. It was right above the ocean. She closed her eyes and concentrated on where she wanted to go before stepping off the cliff. She was falling and then she was raising. She opened her eyes. She'd made it! She was back to her forest.

She stepped off the river and onto the ground. She made her way to her cottage. It was still standing, but now there was a large black castle behind it. Aqua approached. The cottage seemed to be the entryway to the castle. Aqua entered.

"Well, what do we have here?" Maleficent was sitting on a throne in the middle of the cottage. "Here to cast me out?"

"Not yet," Aqua approached. "I want you to tell me what this spell is." She held it out to Maleficent.

"And why should I do that?"

Aqua dug into her bag and held up a dragon scale. They weren't rocks, but she'd been collecting them for a while. She hadn't intended on using them as bargaining chips, but dragon scales were rare and filled with potent magic.

"Well, well, well," Maleficent smirked. "I hope you have more than that."

"Tell me what the spell is and we'll see."

"Hm, very well then," Maleficent took the paper from her. "This spell…" She smiled. "This spell steals the soul and life force of any living thing it's cast on. The user absorbs the energy to increase their lifespan."

"I see," Aqua frowned. What was Xehanort planning to do with a spell like that? She gave Maleficent the scales and went back to the river.

When she appeared at Mystic Haven something felt wrong. She crossed the ocean to the shore. As she headed uphill, she saw people running downhill. She stopped someone to ask what was going on. They told her Mystic Haven was under attack.

Aqua ran. 

There were creatures like shadows everywhere. They were ripping things and people apart. Aqua managed to get into the castle. There was no sign of life. 

She made it to the garden. 

Terra, Eraqus, and Xehanort were there in front of the gazebo. Terra was in front of Eraqus, wounded and panting. Xehanort was the cause. Aqua broke into a sprint. As Aqua got close Xehanort tossed Terra aside. His body collided with her and they fell to the ground.

"Terra!" Aqua held him. "Are you okay?"

"Aqua," Terra's breathes seemed forced, "Master Eraqus, protect him."

Aqua's eyes darted to Xehanort and Eraqus. Xehanort was closing in on him. She looked back at Terra. He was fading quickly.

"Terra, stay with me." She cast a healing spell. It did nothing. "Terra!"

He brushed her face with his hand. "I love you."

"I love you," she felt tears in her eyes.

There was a screech.

Aqua looked up. Eraqus was in his dragon form. Xehanort was chanting. Aqua recognized that spell. She reached into her bag and grabbed the spell. 

"You have to help the---"

She shushed him and stroked his hair. He was growing weaker.

She began to recite the spell.

She could feel Terra's energy pooling into her as the words left her mouth. She focused the energy outside of herself. He fell still. 

She felt the moment Eraqus's barrier dropped. She knew without looking that he was gone. Mystic Haven had fallen.

 _"I.."_ Aqua swallowed, "I had let the last known dragon, my master, the person who gave us and so many others a home, die."

She took a breath. Had she ever said it out loud before? It's not like she wanted to talk about it, but it's not like she wanted to lie either. Vanitas trusted her after all. Though maybe that would change now. He wasn't looking at her. Maybe she ruined everything by telling him.

"The truth is if I hadn't been selfish--- If I had tried to help then---"

"You wouldn't have Terra." Vanitas finally looked at her. He didn't seem disgusted with her. "Ven wouldn't have Terra either…"

Maybe he wasn't understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Vanitas, I could have saved him. I could have saved Mystic Haven."

"You could've died and… I wouldn't have you." He looked down at his hands. "Even if you'd won, you would have stayed at Mystic Haven because you'd never leave Terra."

"I… yea."

"If you could redo it would you save him instead?"

There was the question that Aqua asked herself as she lay in bed at night. She knew what her answer should've been and yet no matter how many times she asked it the answer stayed the same:

"No." She looked away from him. "I'd choose Terra every time."

"Of course you would," Vanitas nodded. "I don't think that makes you a bad person."

"You don't?"

Vanitas shook his head. "I don't think you would've been a bad person no matter what choices you made that day… I've seen bad people and you're not one of them."

Twelve years old… The fall of Mystic Haven was thirteen years prior.

"If I could go back," the words came out before she could finish thinking, "to before that night, I would stop him before he ever got to you or Ven."

Vanitas was quiet for a long time and then he laughed. "You would've taken him down at Mystic Haven, huh?"

"Well, if I'd known he was such a monster. It would've been my responsibility as a Magic Master."

"Is that how you would've explained yourself to everyone else?"

"You're assuming I'd stay long enough to explain."

Vanitas laughed again. "Master Aqua on the run after executing a man for crimes he'd yet to commit against children who don't exist yet."

Aqua smiled. Well, at least he found it humorous. She waited for him to calm down before continuing.

 _In front of her there was a wispy sphere._ It glowed with a light and the energy felt like Terra. She reached her hand out and cast a protection spell. A bubble encased the wisp.

"It's very nice of you to prepare that one for me," Xehanort stopped in front of her. "I was afraid his soul would be gone before I got a chance to take his magic."

Aqua glared. "Don't come any closer."

He took a step.

All the water in the air and from the plants formed into shards of ice surrounding him. 

"Now, now," he put up a hand covered in fire. "There's no need for that."

Aqua changed the ice into mist. She got to her feet and ran. She knew he was watching her. She created an illusion of herself teleporting away while she casted a camouflage spell on the dip in the wall she hid in.

She stayed there for days, not exiting until she knew it was safe. She spent the next day cleaning the castle and burying the dead. She knew she couldn't stay for long. She grabbed a couple of books and headed out.

 _"Wait!"_ Vanitas spun around nearly slipping into the goop. "Terra died!"

"That's a bit of a delayed reaction," Aqua took a breath and then smiled.

"Well because," Vanitas looked at his hands, "a lot was happening..." Vanitas scooped slime into one of Aqua's bubbles. "This stuff is gross."

It was quiet.

"I didn't know where to go next," Aqua looked up. "I just wandered around for a long time."

 _Aqua stayed off the main roads._ She didn't want to risk getting Xehanort's attention. It was hard not to draw attention while she was carrying a soul in a bubble. Eventually, she found a cave in a forest. It was surrounded by enough resources for her live off of, but secluded enough that no one would bother her.

As she read through her books, she came across a passage about golems. Terra did need a new body. And there was plenty of clay in the river. So Aqua began her project.

Aqua knew Terra by memory, but just in case she also had lots of pictures. She didn't keep track of how many days past or how many pieces she had to restart. She just kept going. When she was done sculpting his face, she picked her favorite two pieces of amber out of her collection and made them his eyes.

With everything done, Aqua undid the bubble and lowered Terra's soul into the golem. She waited a long time for something --- anything to happen. When nothing did she put a protection spell on the golem so Terra's soul wouldn't be lost. She laid down next to the golem. She fell asleep.

She woke up to warmth and the sound of a heartbeat. She opened her eyes. Terra was looking at her. Her heart hit her throat.

"Terra?" She was shaking. "Do you…? Are you…?"

"Aqua," he took her face in his hands. They were warm and firm. "I love you."

The tears wouldn't stop. "I love you."

They talked all day. He remembered everything.

It took a while for Terra to get used to his new body, but when he did they hit the road. Eventually, they found the Magic Tower. It was much smaller than Mystic Haven, but it was a sanctuary.

 _"And we've been here ever since,"_ Aqua got the last of the slime. 

Vanitas gathered the bubbles together. "So that's love, huh?"

"Well, one version of it."

"I wonder if…" He stared into the distance.

Aqua waited for him to finish, but he never did. "I think you will find love one day."

Vanitas went red. "Shut up!"

"Oh!" Aqua clapped. "I just remembered goop frog slime can be used to make hair products."

"Aqua! That's disgusting!"

"I hear it makes your hair soft and shiny," Aqua smiled. "You should try it, Vanitas. You can take some if you want."

Vanitas grimaced but took a bubble anyway. "Thanks for the story."

"Anytime," she smiled. "Now let's go get breakfast."

"Oh," Vanitas stopped in the doorway. "What about your forest?"

"One day…" Aqua shook her head, "but right now, I'm happy here."

"Okay," Vanitas started down the stairs. "I don't mind you being here either."

Aqua smiled and followed him down to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BunnyMask is sick so she trusted me, her sister, to post this chapter for her.
> 
> So yea, there's the story of Aqua and Terra before they got to the tower as well as a story of Aqua and Vanitas bonding. Man, it gets me teary-eyed every time.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! ^^


End file.
